Do You Snore a Lot?

Did your wife or husband complain about not being able to sleep peacefully at night because of your snoring? Are you even aware that you snore? Here are the things you need to know about snoring and why you should not ignore the complaints of your wife or husband.

Why Do You Snore?
There are several causes of snoring, and some of them need medical intervention because they can cause more serious health problems later. If you can address these problems, perhaps you and your partner can sleep quietly every night.

How Do You Know if You Snore?
However, if you live alone, it is difficult to determine whether you snore or not. There are tests that you can do at home to find out if you snore and what type of snorer you are. If the tests below do not help, you should see your doctor to pinpoint the cause/s of snoring.

• Mouth Breathing Test. Try opening your mouth and making a snoring noise, then try to do the same with your mouth closed. If you can make the sound only if your mouth is open, that means you’re a mouth breather.

• Nose Test. Try pressing one side of nostril and breathing through your nose with your mouth closed. If you find this difficult after testing both nostrils, you might need nasal dilators. Next, try breathing through your nose with your mouth closed. If this is difficult for you, it means that you have a stuffy nose or an allergy.

• Tongue Test. Try sticking your tongue out as far as you can and grip it with your teeth in place. Then, make a snoring sound to determine if you are a tongue bases snorer when the sound is reduced with your tongue out.

For those who have problems in more than one of the tests above, it could mean that you are a multifactorial snorer (the cause of snoring is a combination of different factors) or you have palatal flutter (vibration of the soft palate). You should also monitor your body mass index (BMI) regularly because being overweight means you are more likely to suffer from health problems including snoring.

How Can You Stop Snoring?
If your snoring is caused by any of the factors listed above, you need to address those issues first then observe the following habits: